U.S. programs perpetuate single mothers

Thursday

Mar 6, 2014 at 12:01 AMMar 7, 2014 at 10:05 AM

Nicholas Kristof blamed Appalachian poverty on the absence of federal anti-poverty programs ("To effectively fight poverty, you have to start early," op-ed column, Feb. 25). Allegedly, the United States doesn't start the poverty war early enough in Johnny's life.

Nicholas Kristof blamed Appalachian poverty on the absence of federal anti-poverty programs (“To effectively fight poverty, you have to start early,” op-ed column, Feb. 25). Allegedly, the United States doesn’t start the poverty war early enough in Johnny’s life.

Well, how does 1964 sound? President Lyndon Johnson’s administration started a war on poverty, particularly Appalachian poverty. Since then, an alphabet soup of anti-poverty programs has consumed $17 trillion in means-tested assistance, including Head Start, WIC (Women, Infants, and Children), TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children), LIHEAP (Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program) and EBT food stamps (Electronic Benefit Transfer). Yet, Johnny can’t hear or speak in his unheated trailer.

Kristof acknowledged that it isn’t due just to a lack of money, but also to life’s “complex web of challenges.” Yet, little Johnny in the hills of Appalachia still can’t speak at 3 years old, and had other lapses in infancy. His mother doesn’t have a clue about his poor hearing.

Well, any one of us will fall through the cracks of life if we tear away at the moral floorboards. Kristof gives scant mention to the faults of women who bring children into the world laden with alcohol and drugs. No mention is made of Johnny’s father, whose income could have helped with the frozen trailer pipes, bills and broken-down car.

Look, single mothers are not the victims of natural disasters. Single motherhood thrives today because of the support of government poverty programs. Uncle Sam has been the dependable breadwinner in the family since 1964.

Why should Johnny’s mother suffer her extended family’s corrective intervention and financial assistance? It would be conditioned upon her good behavior.